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Budget committee backs sending park parking ordinance to full board after debate on locations and review
Summary
The Budget & Finance Committee forwarded an ordinance allowing the SFMTA to set paid parking on Recreation & Park property, targeting Golden Gate Park’s east end; the measure includes requirements for Rec & Park to recommend locations and the Board of Supervisors to approve final meter siting, with environmental review and community input required before installation.
The Budget & Finance Committee voted to forward to the full Board an ordinance authorizing the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to identify park property suitable for paid parking, set rates and implement a parking‑management plan for Recreation & Park Commission property.
Supervisor John Avalos, chair of the committee, said the change would allow the city to manage congestion in Golden Gate Park and other heavily used park areas while preserving the board’s authority over location decisions. Katie Petruccione, director of administration and finance for the Recreation and Park Department, told supervisors the ordinance would allow Rec & Park to work with SFMTA to install multiple‑space pay stations (one meter serving roughly 10 spaces), with an initial revenue estimate of about $500,000–$650,000 for FY2010 based on placing roughly 130 pay stations (about 1,800+ spaces) in an East End pilot area.
Jim Lazarus, president of the Recreation and Park Commission, said the commission has pursued a parking plan for years and views controlled paid parking as consistent with the city’s Transit First policy. He described how revenues could support augmented park patrol and shuttle services and discourage all‑day parking that reduces turnover for park visitors.
Supervisors pressed staff on details that remain unresolved: which specific park areas would include meters, how rates would be set to distinguish short‑term recreational users from employees or all‑day parkers, and what meter technology would be used. Petruccione said the new generation of meters is programmable and that rates could be tailored to local conditions; she offered the East End of Golden Gate Park bounded roughly by Stanyan and Crossover Drive (west), Lincoln (south) and Fulton (north) as an initial study area, stressing that environmental review of any detailed plan would be required before installation.
Public comment split along familiar lines. Environmental and transit advocates, including a Sierra Club representative, urged the city to use parking pricing to reduce driving and free up spaces for park users; residents warned that meters could deface park landscapes, stressed the cost of implementation (installation, enforcement and staffing) and urged careful study of offsetting measures such as shuttles. Committee members said they supported the ordinance’s framework but emphasized that the Board of Supervisors must approve final siting and that environmental review and community input are necessary.
The committee approved moving the ordinance to the full board with a recommendation and with an amendment preserving the supervisors’ approval of final paid‑parking locations and requiring coordination with the Recreation and Park Commission and SFMTA. The committee also noted that specific meter types, rates and implementation details will be developed in subsequent steps that will include environmental review and additional public hearings.
The full Board will consider the ordinance next week under the committee’s recommendation.
